Burger King have dropped the Irish food processing plant which supplied burgers contaminated with horse DNA.

The Silvercrest plant in Co Monaghan, part of the Larry Goodman owned ABP Food Group, has now lost contracts with the major fast food chain and also supermarkets Tesco, Aldi and the Co-operative Group.

Burger King said the failure to deliver 100% British & Irish beef patties was a violation of contracts.

Irish authorities said that its investigations have traced filler product used in the burger processing facility to a supplier in Poland. It contained a mixture of beef and horse offcuts.

Diego Beamonte, vice president, global quality, at Burger King Corporation, apologised to customers over the controversy.

"While the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has stated that this is not a food safety issue, we are deeply troubled by the findings of our investigation and apologise to our guests, who trust us to source only the highest-quality 100% beef burgers," he said.

"Our supplier has failed us and in turn we have failed you. We are committed to ensuring that this does not happen again.

"We will dedicate ourselves to determining what lessons can be learned and what additional measures, including DNA testing and enhanced traceability controls, can be taken to ensure that we continue to provide you with the quality products you expect from us."

Burger King said it wanted to find suppliers who could provide 100% pure Irish and British beef products.